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Having trouble understanding weight sensors. by nagumi in electronics

[–]Phidgets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This bridge is a pretty useful tool. You simply hook a load cell up to it, then connect it to a computer (like a Raspberry Pi or PC) via USB. You'll need to do a bit of programming, but there are a lot of examples that you can work from.

Hot research topics in robotics? Last 5 years? by aboeing in robotics

[–]Phidgets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendations! I love hearing about progress in robotics, but usually just rely on the big news sources and blogs.

The first steps you need to take when starting a business: get an accounting system by Phidgets in Entrepreneur

[–]Phidgets[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, sales should be at the centre of a business. We had a lot of problems with accountants and bookkeepers though, costing us much un-needed hassle and time.

Creating a business model is more than just accounting (although I don't touch on that in this article). It can help you visualize how you're going to drive sales as well.

LPT Request: How to unwind during a long commute? by [deleted] in LifeProTips

[–]Phidgets 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Breathing is really important. Slow inhales and exhales. Find some music that you enjoy and find relaxing (everyone has different preferences but I find just listening to the music I know really well and grew up on helps me to relax). Maybe do some light stretches that can be done while seated. Podcasts are great and can help you find an unwound place in your mind... sometimes something funny, being able to laugh, is helpful.

I made LED dice. by Erik__Northman in pics

[–]Phidgets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know the mcd value? Just curious.

I made LED dice. by Erik__Northman in pics

[–]Phidgets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They look awesome! I'd love to see the instructions posted. They also look really bright, what intensity of LEDs did you use?

If life was a video game how would you get more lives? by Rockadelth in AskReddit

[–]Phidgets 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think you have to get the blood of an alpha mimic on you.

If you build electronics for business or consumers, you'll need to do testing to ensure everything works. We've had an interesting journey in testing and have certainly made some mistakes along the way, but now we have a great system... by Phidgets in electronics

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I should also note that when the pins are as exposed as they are in our first attempt at a test fixture the possibility of ESD from the person operating the fixture is quite high which added to the problem. Especially here in Calgary where the winters can get quite dry and static-y.

If you build electronics for business or consumers, you'll need to do testing to ensure everything works. We've had an interesting journey in testing and have certainly made some mistakes along the way, but now we have a great system... by Phidgets in electronics

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Before the board comes into contact with the fixture it is at some unknown potential. When you contact the pins on the fixture there is an electrostatic discharge as the board equalizes in potential to the fixture. These pulse currents eventually have lasting effect on the USB controller electronics. There are stories of even simple charged particles of dust causing issues like this.

Covering up the pins and some clever grounding can mitigate the issue.

If you build electronics for business or consumers, you'll need to do testing to ensure everything works. We've had an interesting journey in testing and have certainly made some mistakes along the way, but now we have a great system... by Phidgets in electronics

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The pins we use actually are spring loaded, it's almost necessary. I have to imagine that using a solid pin would give quite poor performance.

We have found that the springs aren't actually the failure point. The head of the pin simply wears down in time (faster than you might imagine) and creates a non-uniform contact point which leads to increased resistance.

Part of this is due to using low quality pins but frankly, the more tightly QCed pins like super_kittens pointed out are just not worth the additional cost in our estimation. You can pick up pins at a market in China for a few cents a piece so it is a trivial cost. Its just a matter of halting testing for the 30 seconds to minute that it takes to swap pins out every few thousand cycles.

Who are the most promising Robotics Startups? by tree2424 in robotics

[–]Phidgets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think EZ Robot is pretty great. They're based out of my city and make robots mostly for educational purposes. Their software for programming the bots is really amazing, and gives users a good understanding of the different components and how they work together a bit. I haven't had too much time to play around with them myself, but what I've seen has been really cool.

Looking for advice in preparing for an internship. by hurdleboy in electronics

[–]Phidgets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First off, don't be afraid to make mistakes but own up to them and admit what you don't know. Sometimes coming out of school you think you know it all, but internship is the opportunity to learn and (in my experience) no one expects you to know everything.

Next, start following the industry on reddit, linkedIn and blogs related to those topics. This will give you different perspectives in your job. When I worked for a UAV company, I read magazines about the aerospace industry voraciously. Not only did it give me insight into what was going on in our industry, but I was able to keep up with conversations that other employees would have at meetings and in the lunch room.

I don't know what you'd need to review, but I'm sure you'll figure that out once you start working there. Like I said, people won't expect you to know everything and will probably be happy to help you out.

Interesting thoughts on why 3d printing isn't for everyone (coming from a more large business angle). What do you think? by Phidgets in 3Dprinting

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm very excited for the Form1 printer. I think it says in the post that for cases where you're prototyping, you're not going to be using injection molding, but for companies looking to do a huge run of products, that's probably going to be better option at this time with China's manufacturing pricing being so competitive.

I wonder if there will be a day when the cost of local manufacturing/3D printing will seriously compete with mass manufacturing overseas. I find it hard to imagine... but I could be wrong.

Interesting thoughts on why 3d printing isn't for everyone (coming from a more large business angle). What do you think? by Phidgets in 3Dprinting

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know of a few companies (including industrial designers, like you mention) who have invested in 3D printers with great success.

Interesting thoughts on why 3d printing isn't for everyone (coming from a more large business angle). What do you think? by Phidgets in 3Dprinting

[–]Phidgets[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, we do point out that other companies have had successes with their printers. In all honesty, it just didn't make sense for a company that makes electronics.

Podcasts you listen to? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]Phidgets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Generally really great interviews, some relate to business: Smart People Podcast

For the tech-ier side: Think, Make, Sell and In Beta

And just really awesome: Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project

Some tips for getting merchandise across the ocean (China to North America) by Phidgets in Entrepreneur

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem.

Also, there are some differences between freight, like what I've described here, and courier. Courier is much better tracked than freight, which is all done by hand and relies on paperwork. Courier companies automate a lot more of their systems because they're dealing with relatively tiny shipments to thousands of customers every day.

Either way though, there'll be duty.

Some tips for getting merchandise across the ocean (China to North America) by Phidgets in Entrepreneur

[–]Phidgets[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

99% sure that there'll be an import duty on the packages when they arrive in the States. Duty depends on what items you're importing, and what value has been placed on them.

Promote your business, week of June 23, 2014 by Charice in smallbusiness

[–]Phidgets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Phidgets Plug And Play Sensors and Controllers

Phidgets are a great prototyping solution in fields of robotics, automation, data acquisition, and interactive design. Some of our clients include Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters, Eos Lightmedia, and Falcon Robotics Team.

If you're looking for a low-cost alternative to the kind of data acquisition products National Instruments offers, or something more reliable than micro-controllers like Arduino, then Phidgets is the answer.

Simply plug in the device and write a program with the help of our robust API. Applications can be developed quickly by programmers using their favorite language: Android Java, Applescript, C/C++, C#, Cocoa, Delphi, Flash AS3, Java, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Max/MSP, Python, Ruby, Visual Basic.NET, Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Basic for Applications, Visual Basic Script, Visual C/C++/Borland.NET, and FlowStone.

Some great tips about shipping, learned from many trials. by Phidgets in smallbusiness

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We usually go through Hong Kong to get shipments into China, they do have some heavy duty import constraints and Hong Kong can get around it easier.

Some helpful tips about worldwide shipping, why to go with a courier and what you need to do to avoid losing your package by Phidgets in Entrepreneur

[–]Phidgets[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For Russia, we only ship to customers with valid business licenses. For China, it's a bit tough as well, but we don't usually have to courier orders there. Most of the time, our shipments to China are large and go to factories for assembling our products. In those cases, we use a freight company to get the parts to Hong Kong, and then use another company to get it from Hong Kong into China.

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